McDermott: My reserves are pushing for a place

BRIAN McDERMOTT believes his reserve side has given Reading boss Steve Coppell even more selection dilemmas.

Royals’ second team won 2-1 on Monday night against a Chelsea side that contained the likes of £30million Andriy Shevchenko, Claudio Pizarro, Steve Sidwell and Tal Ben Haim.

And McDermott said: “All-round I was chuffed with the performance. Chelsea had quality in their side but so did we.

“We gave a soft goal away, but played some really good stuff. We played the same system as Chelsea and passed it well and I think the gaffer will think he’s got more players who can come and play in his first-team.”

Out-of-favour Leroy Lita was again on target, scoring his sixth goal in four reserve matches.

The £1million signing has been unable to make the bench in the Premier League in recent weeks.

But McDermott insists Lita’s attitude remains first-class, adding: “All he can do is train and play. He scored a great goal on Monday, so he’s done that and now it’s up to the manager.

“I have never had a problem with his attitude. Leroy likes playing football.

“He will obviously be frustrated if he’s not playing as would Michael Duberry, Kevin Doyle or Dave Kitson – any of them if they’re not playing and we fully understand that.”